VPNs for Poland: 5 Best VPNs That Work in 2018

Stephen Cooper

February 2, 2018

Poland is an open democracy where scrutiny of internet activities is not a government priority. Poland is part of the EU, however. That means its citizens are subject to the EU’s ever-shifting data retention directives and copyright enforcement. The legality of both these policies was thrown into doubt by a ruling in the European Court of Justice in late 2016. Whether or not Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have the right, or the legal duty, to track the activities of their customers and store that information is up for debate.

The confusing situation over digital privacy and protection of intellectual property makes cross-border video streaming and torrent downloading hot topics. To keep on the safe side, you could adopt one of two strategies. The first is to give up downloading entertainment with torrents and stop trying to get into overseas video streaming sites. The second option is to carry on with these activities, but cover your tracks with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

VPNs hide the true destination of your connections, so ISPs can’t report on which sites you connect to. The VPN encrypts all communication. That means snooping programs that read the contents of messages won’t be able to work out that you’re downloading files or accessing a video stream. All of your traffic goes through a mediating server. When you have the VPN client program turned on, your computer will only be able to accept incoming messages that come from the nominated server. Thus, VPNs provide you with anonymity and security.

Best VPNs for Poland: Summary

NordVPN has a network of 1,089 servers located in 61 countries. That includes seven servers in Poland. NordVPN is based in Panama and keeps no logs. These two factors make the service the ideal protection for torrent downloaders in Poland. You can get into overseas Netflix services from Poland with NordVPN. This shows that the VPN is excellent at evading detection and will be able to get you into video streaming sites wherever the company has servers.
Your activities on the internet are kept secret thanks to top-grade encryption and features that prevent your real internet address being revealed. These measures include a kill switch, which prevents apps on your device from connecting to the internet with your real address if the VPN is not turned on. Another measure to keep your connections secret is a private Domain Name System (DNS) service, which translates between the web address that you type into your browser and the real internet address of the computer that hosts that website.

TorGuard has servers in 51 countries, including Poland. You can connect up to five devices to the service simultaneously and you can install the TorGuard app on devices that run Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android. You can pay for a subscription anonymously with Bitcoin, or with a range of store gift cards, including Subway credit.
The service offers a choice of VPN protocols, including the BestVPN.com preferred option - OpenVPN. Other security features include malware, ad, and tracker blockers, and automatic WiFi protection. Take a look at the TorGuard alternative anonymous proxy service, which works well to get around the regional restrictions at streaming sites. This VPN is fine with customers using its service for torrenting and it keeps no logs.

ExpressVPN has plenty of servers in the United States, which helps if you're addicted to US entertainment and don't want to get locked out because of overburdened VPN servers. In total, the company has more than 1,500 servers in 94 countries. This gives you an abundance of choice when you're surfing the world for entertainment, particularly as ExpressVPN can get around just about any regional restrictions in the world, including those at Netflix.
This company is very hot right now and you'll see it recommended all over the web - and justifiably so. You may wonder why this top-ranking VPN service is not the number one in this list of the best VPNs for Poland. The only reason that we recommend you try out other services first is that this premium VPN is expensive.

IPVanish comes in at number four because of the play off between its good points and its bad points. This is an excellent, purpose-built VPN service that offers amazing transfer speeds. However, it is based in the United States, which may make it vulnerable to pressure from US copyright lawyers. However, the company declares that it doesn't keep activity logs, so those lawyers would go home empty handed.
This VPN is good for streaming because it can get through the regional restrictions of most video streaming sites, including Netflix.

ibVPN is based in Romania, where the High Court threw out the government's data retention laws. This is a great VPN for privacy. It keeps no logs. The company offers a range of packages that give you the choice of a VPN, a Smart DNS, or both. The Smart DNS service selectively diverts your internet traffic through a mediating server if it detects that the target of a connection is a server that runs regional restrictions. All the rest of your traffic travels through regular routes. If you want to download files with torrents, you should opt for the VPN because that offers more security than the Smart DNS.
The VPN is implemented as an app for Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android devices. The company has also produced a lightweight version of the VPN as an extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera browsers.

Poland VPNs: Considerations

Overseas Video Streaming

Companies that offer video over the internet can’t allow everyone access to the videos in their libraries. That’s because copyright owners issue contracts that give companies the right to show videos in specified countries. The contracts specify where the video can be displayed, not where it’s stored. Thus if ABC in the US has the rights to show a movie, it only has the right to deliver it over the internet within the US. It doesn’t have the right to display it on a computer screen in Poland.

Another complication that binds video streaming services is the legal situation in each country. TV stations and cinemas licensed in Poland have to pay a fee to the government. Any website that wants to show entertainment there also has to get permission and pay for the right to show videos. A company such as HBO is only interested in serving its home market. As such, it isn’t going to bother going through the legal process of getting the right to show its content in Poland. It is far easier to block access to its shows from people who are located in Poland.

Each country has its own libel and blasphemy laws. There is also a board of censors in each territory. Movies and shows have to be edited to meet the approval of the censors before they can be shown in Poland. The Polish censors don’t automatically approve movies made in the US. Even when providers release American movies in Poland, they’re not the same versions as they show in the US. Streaming services try to ensure that international customers only get to see the version of a video that the local censors have approved for broadcast in their countries.

VPNs for Poland

No matter where you’re from, and even if you have a subscription to a video streaming service, you won’t be given access to entertainment if you’re not in the country that the video site serves. If you want to get into video streaming services outside Poland, you need a VPN. When you connect to a VPN, you have to nominate a server. Once you’ve turned the VPN on, it encrypts all of your internet communications as they pass between your computer and the VPN server.

The connection to the VPN server overrides all other addressing instructions that apps on your computer issue. Therefore, if you want to connect to Netflix in the US, your VPN-protected computer will send a request to the VPN server asking it to request the homepage of Netflix US. In order for this to work, you need to select a VPN server in the US. When the request for the Netflix homepage arrives, the Netflix server checks its origin. If the request comes from the US, it will allow access.

There is a complication. Video streaming services know that customers use VPNs to try to get around the ban on international access. Nowadays, video streaming sites scan incoming requests for signs of VPN activity. If they detect a VPN, the video server will block the request. Some VPN companies have invested in stealth technology to evade detection. The intricacy of VPN detection systems varies from service to service. For example, most VPNs can get into BBC iPlayer. However, very few can get around the detection systems at Netflix. When you choose a VPN for Poland, make sure that it can get you into the video streaming sites that you want to access!

Torrenting in Poland

Although downloading files is perfectly legal, downloading copyrighted files without permission isn’t. There are very few countries in the world that condone copyright infringement. Poland isn’t one of them. You’re liable for prosecution in Poland if the authorities catch you downloading copyrighted files with torrents.

VPNs protect you because they stand between you and the swarm of peers for a file. The only address that anyone can see will be the VPN’s address, not yours. Therefore, the only way anyone can trace your torrenting activities to you is if your VPN dobs you in.

Some VPNs make it clear that they will cooperate with the authorities fully and hand over all requested information should they be served with a court order. Other VPNs go to great lengths to avoid collecting information on their customers. These are the VPNs that you should subscribe to. Features to look out for include the VPN allowing torrenting and keeping no logs. It’s also an advantage if the VPN company is based outside of Poland because that puts an extra obstacle in the path of copyright lawyers who want to put pressure on VPN companies for information.

VPNs for Poland: Conclusion

You need a VPN that protects torrenters and that’s good at getting around the regional restrictions of video streaming sites. These two attributes will keep you safe from prosecution in Poland. Other essential services that you’ll need from your VPN are security features to prevent your identity from being leaked and fast speeds to keep video streaming.

You’ll see from the description of the recommended VPNs that all of them will help you when you download or stream video in Poland. Keep safe on the internet and protect yourself with a VPN!